Moonlight
by Demented Inu
Summary: Remus watches the skies. Remus/Sirius.


The sky was dark, pinpricks of light serving as stars millions of miles above, the moon hanging like a fingernail clipping among them, as if it belonged. The grass was wet beneath his palms as he fisted damp earth, eyes focused on nothing but the sky for the moment.

The stars twinkled playfully and he smiled a little, as much as he ever let himself smile while he was alone. He enjoyed the quiet a little too much, insects playing a near-silent symphony around him and the leaves of the willow tree rustling as a breeze wafted through them. He sighed at the soft sounds, his breath hot in the cold night air, skin prickling with gooseflesh in the wind.

"How long have you been out here?"

Remus looked behind him for a moment, and wasn't entirely surprised to see Sirius standing there watching him, dew clinging to his bare toes.

Remus merely shrugged, skin shifting slightly beneath his ragged pajamas. "I dunno. An hour or so, I think."

Sirius tilted his head and looked Remus up and down with concerned eyes. "You must be freezing."

"You're the one that's barefoot," Remus pointed out with another small smile, earning him an eye-roll before Sirius sat in the grass to join him.

"Never pegged you as a stargazer." Sirius's lips remained parted for a moment after that, closing only when another breeze hit them.

The stars were so inviting as Remus looked up into them with longing eyes. He wished he could be there, or at least a small part of him did; escape the discrimination, the pain, the driving urge to obey his mistress, the moon.

Instead, he was forever pulled down to the Earth, to the trees and the Black Lake, to his curse that nobody seemed to understand.

"I like the stars," Remus said simply, and that seemed to offer as some sort of explanation, for Sirius was quiet for a while after that.

Remus tried to relax in the sudden tension of it all. Sirius lay down on the wet grass with his arms folded behind his head like a typical teenage boy, and Remus looked at him fondly. Skinny, but what would you expect from a troublemaking runaway? Long dark hair spilling out over thin shoulders, equally dark eyes reflecting the sliver of the moon above.

He tried to snap out of it, but found that he couldn't look away; his best friend, named after the Dog Star, the only person other than James that he could ever really trust. Sirius hadn't hated him, hadn't turned away at finding out about his condition. Sirius was the Universe trapped in human form, reckless, wild, unpredictable, and yet Remus could watch for hours.

Sirius's eyes caught his and their gazes held until Remus looked back to the stars again.

"What?" Sirius asked, and touched his own face. "Do I have something in my teeth or…?"

"No," Remus replied, a blush settling into his cheeks. "No, you're fine."

Sirius blinked. "Then why were you staring at me?

Remus looked at him again, embarrassed. "It's just… You're my best friend, do you know that?"

Sirius's eyes were very dark all of a sudden, darker even than usual, and they held in them all the truth and beauty of the world.

Not just the beauty; they held the ugly too, the breaking up of families, the abandonment of children, the brothers who had left home for something far more dangerous.

"I know," Sirius said, and his voice showed that he meant it. "You're my best friend too."

Remus looked to the sky once more and tried to take in the space between the stars. Miles and miles and miles, but only inches to them. Proportion was unreal to him now, as he sat in the wet grass in his ruined pajamas, clothing certainly unsuited for the weather. But it didn't matter in the long run; he was with Sirius now, and however tense things got for him, however cold he became, he could look to Sirius for help and warmth.

"I've missed this," Sirius added. At Remus's questioning look, he continued, "You, me. The stars and the moon." He looked at Remus again. "Are you afraid of it?"

Remus's eyes scanned once the seemingly smooth surface of the moon. "Yes," he replied finally. "I can't help it. It's like it's a part of me now; the moon is like my darker side."

Sirius sat up and touched Remus's face with trembling fingers. Whether from cold or anxiety, he couldn't tell, and didn't care as he found himself relaxing, leaning a little too far into the touch.

"I don't see any darkness," Sirius said, breath fogging slightly in the chill. His fingers drew odd alien patters on Remus's cheek, making the latter inhale a little for air.

"Sirius…"

Sirius smiled, and the Universe tightened, expanded at the sight of it. "All I see is you."

It seemed only natural then to lean forward to meet Sirius's mouth. Remus realized how strange it was to be kissing Sirius Black, but his mouth moved against the other boy's without any real hesitation, like it was always meant to be this way. The dew was cold beneath his other hand, the one that wasn't curled tightly into the dark tangles of hair.

Sirius moaned quietly into Remus's mouth, lips parting and coming together again with every new kiss, every new beginning. Remus pushed forward to deepen the kiss, and their tongues collided messily in the heat of their mouths.

But then Sirius pulled back, slowly, as if not wanting to let go. Remus could've kissed him forever, but allowed his friend to curl like a sleepy puppy into his side.

And Remus couldn't think of anywhere else in the Universe he would rather be.

All he saw was Sirius.


End file.
